Review (PDF) When The East Wind Blows: A World War 2 Novel Based On A True Story
A fast-paced World War II historical novel based on the true story of holocaust survivorsThis historical novel, based on a true story, brings World War Two to a new level of reality and a descriptive intensity that will leave the reader spellbound. It brings to life the dramatic experiences of a woman caught between a ruthless government and the will to survive with her children during the last six months of World War 2 in Nazi Germany as she flees the incoming Russian front in the East and right into the carpet bombing in the West.This book brings this war down to a human level in a way that will leave the reader with a stunning new perspective never told in America and represents the missing link in the historical annals of this time.A sequel called WEST WIND is being written at this time and deals with the chaotic aftermath of the collapse of the Third Reich and the survival of Elisabeth, her four children and Helga, the maid. It also describes her husband's experiences in an American prison camp in the south of France.Quote by Elisabeth Wendell, Professor of American Literature, University of Duesseldorf, Germany:“Barbara Martin is a very talented story teller and has captured a dark period of German history during the holocaust with sincere honesty and deep understanding for the people caught up in it. The book makes for great reading enjoyment!”
File Size: 2326 KB
Print Length: 304 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Monumental Press; 2 edition (November 12, 2012)
Publication Date: November 12, 2012
Sold by: Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00A6KR53Y
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #7,507 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #13 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > World > Jewish > Holocaust #19 in Books > History > World > Jewish > Holocaust #26 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Military > World War II
If you are looking for a book with a happy ending, this is not for you. This is a most compelling story of a very brave woman who against all odds, specifically the Russians, escaped across Germany, intact, with her four children. It is a story of not just bravery, but of wisdom, of hope, of endurance, and of love. The story takes place during the winter and insofar as I most often read while in bed, I found myself piling on blankets, more and more covers, to keep warm.. I continuously had to remind myself that this really happened, this is not fiction. I have such a great love for my own daughter that I would like to think I would do the same thing Elizabeth did, but I'm not certain I would have the grit and determination that she had throughout the book. In spite of a not too happy ending, I found the book to be uplifting because of the raw courage of the female characters. I will strongly recommend this book to other readers.
May be the worst book I have ever read. Absolutely no proofreading! Shame shame on the publisher. This should be embarrassing for or anyone selling this book. Sentences ending abruptly and the remainder showing up on another page. Misspelled words everywhere. I made myself finish it just so I could review it. I thought the story was weak and the characters not fully developed. Perhaps we are supposed to have some sympathy for the German civilian population. Did not happen for me. The attitude toward the Jewish "solution" I found appalling. The family in the book survived and for most of the story had plenty to eat - unlike many others in Europe and particularly Germany. I would give it minus stars if I could.
An unusual book which gives a female (German) account of the last days of the Third Reich. It's a novel but one recognises it is indeed based on somebody's actual experience. Women readers will find it gripping, to say the least.
This historical novel does an excellent job of portraying the struggle for survival of a german wife and mother at the end of WW2. It's an account of the horrors of the advancing Russian army and even perhaps an answer the question of why the german population allowed the atrocities of the Nazi party.However, just as you are completely invested in their family as they make a mad dash from one city to the next, the story just ends. Without resolution. No wrapping up the survival of various characters, no end of the war, no mention of how they survived after the end of the war, or of family reunions with family and even her husband who we think might still be alive since he sent a letter to her parents some time ago...I know some authors like to leave endings to the imagination but this one could have been done much better.
I have read many novels on WW II and I love true stories as this was from the eyes of someone living the era. From what I know and have read this is very well written and appears to be a real life story as presented. Very easy to follow and gives one a real life experience of what the times were during the war and especially towards the end. It is very easy to read and follow also hard to put down wanting to know what happens next. I would highly recommend this to anyone wanting to know what happened during this time period and the hardships they went thru to survive.
Interesting story, but I couldn't develop much sympathy for the family. They seemed hauty and full of their own self-importance. The mother was a well educated woman, but lacked any inquisitiveness to question. A good editor would have helped the book. The dialogues were SO bad... I thought the book might have been written by a 6th grader, or maybe for a 6th grade audience (except for the love scenes). I couldn't come to terms with a starving family in bombed out Berlin sitting down to breakfast of Cream of Wheat at a table with fine linens, China, and silver! But I realize the author is one of the children in the story. As such, she must be writing from her memories which were truly traumatic. She just needs a lot of help to make her story personal and believable.
My mother was in a number of slave labor camps. While I was reading this book, I got a call at 2:00 a.m. to run next door to my mom's house. My 89 year old mom was crying hysterically from a nightmare. She cried that she wasn't dreaming, but it seemed that she was there. "They wouldn't let me go to the bathroom and I had to go so bad." "Who, Mom?" ;The Nazis."It took over an hour to get her calmed down. "It didn't feel like a dream. I was there all over again." I grew up with stories about her war experiences, even about when they tortured her by cutting off two of her fingers, so the next day when I asked her if she wanted to talk about it, I expected her to simply retell one of the many accounts I had heard since I was a child. Whatever this was, she would not talk about.So, when reading Barbara 's story, I can imagine the horrific things her mother saw. This story was very good and interesting. Also cleaned up, thankfully. My mother's first husband, my birth father was a major in the German army. Not a Nazi, mind you. As my mother said, by the time they took my father (or sperm donor, as I refer to him), Hitler was desperate and taking young boys and old men. Barbara does an excellent job in showing the maniac's last stand at any cost.As with Jakob, so many of us lost Jewish family members even if we were entitled. My gentile aunt was married to a Jewish man who was deported and killed.Such insanity. Thank you for sharing, Barbara.
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